A/N: It's chapter 30 already? Wow, it's come pretty far. Even though it's taken about fourteen months to get here, it's still a great achievement for me, one that would not have been achieved without my reviews. So, it's been a little while and I thought today would be a good day to finally finish and upload it because it's GEORGE'S BIRTHDAY!

Chapter 30 – Help!

Today was the first day of school for 2012 – it was February 2nd and I was starting Year 11 today. Wow, a senior! I couldn't believe it – how time flies, really. The only downside of school, as I found it, was seeing Tim every day. I hadn't seen him since last year on the last day of Year 10, and I was slightly dreading it. Not that I was afraid of him, but he was annoying and I detested him and I feared he would resume his old ways of hitting people in the shopping centre and getting them and himself arrested. I hadn't spoken to Max since the day after the last full moon – he told me he hadn't seen it and it was the same for me. That was three weeks ago. It must be a record for us not communicating with each other.

This first day back at school, I suddenly became upset. Why? Because at morning tea I saw Prue crying to Molly and Anna. It really irritated me to no end. It made me really upset too. It hurt that she could talk to them about her problem but not me, especially when she was my first friend at the school. At lunch time, the three of them found me sitting by myself, sniffling. They approached me, concerned, and tried to comfort me.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Anna sat next to me and asked in her caring voice.
"Nothing," I lied.
"No, seriously, Sadie, what's wrong?"
"You can tell us," Prue said, "We're your friends, we're here to support you."
"You wanna put those words in my mouth?" I retorted in a slightly sour way.
"What?"
"I can't believe it," I stood up and, in a bold move, started to confront the fragile girl, towering over her, "You can ask me to tell you what's wrong but yet you can't tell me what's wrong with you?"
"Sadie, I-."
"I'll tell you what's wrong with me – you. That's what's wrong. You three go around discussing it, keeping me in the dark, when we're each other's oldest friends here! I thought we trusted each other? Obviously not, if you can't even tell me what's wrong. I have tried and tried to console you and get you to open up to me but to no avail! You'd rather tell those two instead!"
"It's not that, Sadie, it's just I didn't think you'd understand-."
"I wouldn't understand? How wouldn't I understand? Believe me when I say I've pretty much figured out what's happening on my own," she looked frightened to hear this, "and I would completely understand, more than you would know!"
"Sadie?" Anna asked in a slightly disgusted tone, "Why are you doing this? Stop it, you're making things worse!"

At that point I took a deep breath and saw that Prue was on the verge of tears. Molly had her arm around her, comforting her. Yeah, no one would comfort me over Prue.
"I just want to be there to help comfort you," I told Prue softly, "I don't like being left out of it whilst you can freely tell these two."
"Sadie, maybe I have my reasons for not telling you," Prue said.
"Oh, and what reasons would that be?"
The three of them looked at each other apprehensively. I could tell it was going to offend me.
"You don't really need to know, Sadie. They're my personal reasons."
"It's because you hate me, isn't it? Isn't it?"
I lashed out at her, clearly freaking her out. Fresh tears began to well up in both of our eyes.
"No, Sadie, how could I hate you?" she asked sadly as I marched away, upset and furious. What kind of friends were they? My heart suddenly stopped at my realisation – I had just had my first major fight with my friends. Were they even my friends anymore? It saddened me to think of that.

As I was heading somewhere – I don't know where, probably the locker room – I bumped into Patrick. He was with Daniel. I hadn't seen him in a while. Patrick saw the upset look on my face.
"Hey, Sadie!" Daniel greeted friendlily, "Haven't seen you in a while."
"Hey Dan," I managed to smile.
"Are you okay?" Patrick asked softly, looking at me concernedly.
"Yeah, uh, I… no, not really," I replied, looking down.
Daniel smiled and courteously left us to be.
"What's wrong?" Patrick asked, peering down into my face, "Has Tim done something?"
"Tim? No, I actually haven't seen him at all today."
"Did you break up with Max?" he asked with what sounded like a slight tone of hope in his voice.
"Wh-? No, it's Prue."
"Prue? Are you upset about her 'problem'?"
"Do you know about that?" I asked him glaringly.
"No, no," he was quick to reply, "I know just as much as you do about it."
"Well, that's what's wrong. I just had a huge fight with her and Anna and Molly. I told Prue how much it upset me that she could tell those two about her little problem but not me. I'm really offended by it."
"Did she say why she didn't tell you?"
"No… why? Do you know?"
"No, no, I'm not in on it either."
"Anna didn't tell you?"
"Why would Anna tell me?"
"You were kinda a couple… only a few months ago… remember?"
"Oh, yeah, right."

I was gaining suspiciousness as he kept forgetting that he and Anna used to go out. It was like it never happened. No one ever spoke of it and there was no post-breakup awkwardness between the two. It was almost unnatural.
"So this is why you're upset? Because Prue won't tell you what's up with her?" he asked.
"Yeah… and now I'm even more upset from the fight. I accused them of hating me."
Patrick winced.
"That was a little bit far, wasn't it?" he reprimanded.
"Yeah, it was, but I was so upset I wasn't really thinking before I spoke. It all rushed out. I made her cry, which I feel guilty about now. I'm not sure we're even friends anymore."
"Of course you're still friends. You and Anna are best friends!"
"Now I don't have any friends…"
My eyes started to well up again and Patrick look worried – not worried about me, but worried about other people seeing me cry to him. He embraced me in his strong comforting embrace. My head was buried in his chest and I could smell his deodorant – he smelled nice. It was great to have a guy friend I could pour my feelings out to. Sometimes you just can't rely on the girls.
"I'm so glad I have you," I mumbled into his chest.
"Uh, Sades, some people might be getting the wrong idea…"
I lifted my head to look up at him and he was looking around uneasily.
"You're the one who hugged me," I pointed out and he blushed deeply.

At his suggestion, we retreated to somewhere more secluded and quiet. Accusing looks were shot our way, but we just ignored them. It would be a buzz around the grade if word got out about this – they would think we were more than just friends. I would certainly be quick to assure them otherwise. We sat down on a bench in the little garden area in our school. It was really pretty and cosy. This is usually where couples spend their lunch time, so no doubt seeing Patrick and I there together would further raise speculations.
"You know it's Anna's birthday next week… the 11th," I mused, "I wonder if I'm still invited to her sleepover."
"Of course you would be."
"She hasn't handed out the invitations yet. She can still disinvite me."
"She's not going to," he tried to reassure me, almost sounding annoyed.
"What's your problem?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"Oh, sure it's nothing," I then turned to him and asked seriously, "Patrick, what's going on between you and Anna?"
"What?" he exclaimed.
"You know what I'm talking about."
"There's nothing going on. We broke up, remember?"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about. I know there was something extremely fishy going on with your breakup. It was sudden and… and too friendly, and… I heard you and Anna arguing about it."
His head snapped in my direction and he looked alarmed.
"What did you hear?" he asked.
"Well, I'm not going to tell you until you tell me what's going on."

He just looked at me without saying anything. His expression was a mixture of indecision, fearfulness and, surprisingly, disgust.
"I think maybe now I know why Prue didn't tell you."
Well. Those words made me both excited and fearful.
"Wh-hy?" I stuttered.
"Don't take this the wrong way. You always have to know everything. You make a huge deal out of it, too. And you kinda don't understand when people tell you their secrets and problems. You try to console them but it's not really an obvious compassion. And if it's something outrageous you really overreact."
I had started to cry again. The one person I thought I could trust was now pointing out my flaws. And, apparently, the reasons people hated me.
"That's why everyone hates me?" I choked.
"No one hates you," he crooned calmly, "you're just a bit less understanding."
"Great, so now no one, ever, is going to tell me anything. Let's keep everything from Sadie because she can't be trusted! She doesn't understand anything at all!"
"Sadie, calm your farm. I didn't say that was the reason she won't tell you."
"And I overreact?"
"Yeah, well… Tim is one great example. You hit him when he kissed you. You got me arrested for it."
"No, you got yourself arrested because you hit him."
"Only because you hit him first."
"Oh my God… it's all my fault. We were arrested because of me!"
"No, we were arrested because of Tim."

As we sat in silence, me pondering my flaws, Patrick suddenly got up.
"Where are you going?" I asked him aggressively.
"I'll be back," he replied, "Just stay here."
He marched off out of the garden, leaving me alone. Out of the corner of my eye I saw some close movement. Someone had cautiously sidled down next to me.
"I couldn't help but overhear…" the disgustingly familiar voice said softly. I looked at him, revolted, and tried to slide away. He didn't look threatening at all, for some reason. He had a book in his hand and he was obviously in the garden reading, which surprised me greatly.
"Tim, how can you have the nerve to sit here next to me and attempt a casual conversation?" I asked him. He didn't answer immediately.
"I don't know… I just wanted to talk, I guess."
"Ha, talk," I scoffed, crossing my arms and looking upwards.
"What's this that Prue's not telling you?" he asked friendlily.
"Uh, she's not telling me, so how would I know?" I retorted, making him chuckle at his stupidity.
"I think I know-," he whispered.
"Timothy," Patrick was standing in front of us with his arms crossed, glaring at our foe.
Tim just looked up at him before slowly moving away and out of sight. I looked after him.
"What did he want?" Patrick asked, sitting down where Tim was seconds before.
"Nothing," I replied.

After crying again the previous night, I had come back to school for the second day of the year, still believing I was friendless and hated by my peers. Patrick found me daydreaming at my locker in the morning.

"You're not still thinking about yesterday, are you?" he asked as a greeting.
"Which part?" I raised a grumpy eyebrow at him.
He laughed softly, looking down at his feet.
"I spoke to the girls," he revealed. My head snapped to look at him.
"Ugh, why did you have to do that? Did you tell them everything?"
"No, I didn't tell them everything. I asked them a lot though."
"What?"
"I asked them if they hated you. They said no. I asked them if you were still best friends. They said yes. I asked them why they wouldn't tell you what was wrong with Prue. They didn't answer that one. Though they did try to tell me."
"What? So now they're telling everyone but me!"
"I refused. I wouldn't let them tell me. I said if you can't tell Sadie you can't tell me."
"Aw," a small whiny sound came out of my mouth as I wrapped my arms around him.
"That's so nice," I told him, tears dripping down my cheeks. My locker behind me started rattling slightly. Patrick looked at it in alarm and I stuck a foot out to stop it.

"You want proof?" he asked as I pulled away.
"Proof of what?"
"That they still love you."
"Where are you going to get proof? If you're about to tell me that they're right around the corner, ready to jump out and-."
"Open your locker."
Curiously and hesitantly, I turned the combination on the lock and opened the door. Inside, on the top shelf, was an envelope with my name on the front. It must've been placed in there through the side of the door when I was on the toilet just before Patrick arrived at my locker.
"Open it," he ordered.
Opening the envelope, I found an invitation decorated in purple (I instantly recognised it as one of Anna's favourite colours). It read:

Dear: Sadie
You are invited to my sleepover for my 16th birthday party!
When: Saturday, February 11 – Sunday, February 12
Where: my house
What: a cool sleepover!
RSVP: February 8
Bring everything for a sleepover – pyjamas, toiletries,
clothes, pillow (optional), swimwear
Hope you can make it!
Love from Anna

"Proof?" Patrick raised an eyebrow at me.
"It'll do," I said, folding the invitation and putting in in my school bag.
"You'll want to come, won't you?" someone asked. But it wasn't Patrick. Anna was standing cautiously behind him, her hands behind her back.
"Of course I will," I smiled. She came over and hugged me like we'd just reunited after months. It had only been one day and one little fight. Actually, it was more a fight with Prue, not Anna, so I don't know why I thought our relationship was damaged greatly. It was Prue I really needed to make amends with. But, now, I wasn't quite sure she would agree to it. I had gone a bit far. She was already emotionally fragile enough – I think I may have pushed her just a little over the edge. This made me feel horrible. What if I made her legitimately depressed? I mean, she was borderline depressed beforehand, with her secret 'problems' going on, but since our little encounter yesterday… it might've made things way worse.

"I'm glad you're back," Anna smiled.
"It was only one day!" I laughed.
"It was an extremely long day for me."
"Me too."
Molly popped up behind Anna at that very moment and, seeing that Anna and I were back on good terms, hugged me as well.
"I missed you, Sades," she told me.
"Missed you too, Mol," I smiled.
"All this girly lovey dovey stuff," Patrick rolled his eyes but made no move to leave.
"Hey, do you think Prue's going to forgive me?" I asked Anna and Molly, "I haven't seen her since the fight. She didn't catch the bus yesterday."
"You'll have to ask her yourself," Anna replied, "I think you have a chance. Prue forgives people very easily."
As she said this, she and Molly shared a sideways glance. So, who did she forgive that I don't know about? Her abuser? That's preposterous.

The bell had rung just after this and we all collected our books and shuffled off to admin. Patrick was in my homeroom – Molly and Anna were in another one together and Prue was in one with Daniel. Tim was in Molly and Anna's. No one in our immediate social group was in the fourth one. After admin, I had English with Molly and Prue. We usually sat together at a row of three desks – in the order of Prue, me and Molly. It was quite awkward after initially sitting down at the start of class. Prue pretended I wasn't there, though I noticed she remained in her usual seat. Molly kept giving me a look as if to indicate to talk to Prue. Since the teacher hadn't arrived yet, I nervously took the opportunity to apologise.
"Prue?" I turned to her but she continued to ignore me, "Prue, I'm really sorry about yesterday."
"What about yesterday?" she casually asked, still without looking at me.
"You know what I'm talking about… the fight. And everything I said. I didn't really mean it. Well, I didn't really mean to hurt your feelings like that and pick on you and everything…"
"No, you're right. I deserved to hear it. I'm sorry too. I will tell you eventually, when I feel the time is right. I will. Can you just trust me?"
I nodded, though still angry at her need to continue to keep me in the dark. Being the hugging type, she outstretched her arms and we hugged as our official reunion. After that, all was well with our relationship (apart from the fact that she wouldn't tell me anything).